


Chasing The Impossible

by SummerStormFlower



Series: Lost & Lost [2]
Category: Disney Duck Universe, Quack Pack
Genre: Gen, I've been so curious about the triplets' dad lately, Other, This is completely self indulgent, another emotional roller coaster for the teenage ducks, this is all my imagination
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-03
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-09-29 17:37:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20439896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SummerStormFlower/pseuds/SummerStormFlower
Summary: Huey finds a letter from social services in the mail.





	Chasing The Impossible

Huey sorts through the mail as he walks up the driveway to his house. There's bills for Uncle Donald (lucky him), a letter from a relative Huey's never heard of, a letter from social services, a—

Huey freezes. He backtracks to the letter from social services. Donald's name isn't on it. That's good. That means Huey and his brothers aren't going to be taken away from him or anything. (They'd lived in fear of that several years ago when their uncle was jobless and struggling to provide for them).

But Huey doesn't sigh a breath of relief. The fear inside his chest has risen. Because this letter is for Dewey. And the only reason Dewey would be getting a letter from social services, is if...

Is if...

Huey tears open the envelope and takes the letter out. Most of the words fly over his head, except for one sentence. His eyes widen and suddenly he can't feel.

_A man resembling your father has been seen by the border._  
____________________________________________________

_ _When Huey finally gets ahold of himself, he shoves the letter in his pocket, planning to have a talk with Dewey later. However, he finds he can hardly look at Dewey, much less say two words to him, for almost three days.  
__________________________________________________ _

Eventually Dewey gets fed up with the silent treatment.

"You can't act like a jerk without even telling me what I did!" he says.

"You should just know!" Huey knows Dewey's right and that he's being completely unfair. The letter's been in Huey's pocket the entire weekend. There's no possible way Dewey could know. But Huey still feels like he should know. It's all his fault after all. He's the one who tried to find their dad in the first place.

"Just tell me! Don't you run from me, Hubert!"

The chase goes on for an hour in their backyard—Huey had forgotten how fast Dewey is. They yell names and throw dirt at each other, wanting and not wanting to really hurt each other. Both of them fall and skin their elbows, pushing and kicking each other—sure to sport marks where the hits landed tomorrow.

When Dewey grabs Huey's shirt, he jumps on him. After some scuffling and rolling around, Dewey ends up on top and pins his arms to the ground. Huey struggles, but Dewey digs his knees into Huey's torso. He cries out and stops. Dewey quits hurting him, and Huey sighs in relief.

Huey is stronger than him, but this isn't Dewey’s first rodeo (and it won't be his last).

He catches his breath, maintaining a tight grip on Huey's wrists. "Will you tell me why we're fighting now?" he asks.

Huey knows that he's being childish and difficult, but he's just so angry, and the only person he can take that anger out on right now is Dewey. He spits in Dewey's face, who grimaces, then shoves a pile of dirt in Huey's mouth. This starts yet another wrestling match, and they ruin the garden with all their flailing.

Needless to say, they don't get around to talking until much later.

(Donald comes outside with only a half-drank cup of coffee at one point, looking like a dead soul. He goes back in).  
_________________________________________________

"You could've just given this to me!" Dewey says with a frustrated glare. There's scratches on his cheek, bandages on both his elbows, and an ice pack on his ankle.

Huey crosses his arms and scoffs. He's missing a part of his eyebrow, bandages also on both elbows, and bruised sides.

Dewey growls, then unfolds the letter. He can’t believe Huey put them through all that for a letter. A letter, dammit! Honestly, Huey’s such a drama queen. What could be so bad—

Dewey blinks. 

He rereads the letter twice, making sure he didn’t misunderstand anything. When the words are the same, his breath hitches. Dewey looks up at Huey. “They found our dad.”

For a moment, Huey’s eyes shine with hope. Then the flame from before returns and he glares at the paper in Dewey’s hand. “They said it was someone who looked like him. They don’t know for sure,” he says.

“But it’s possible,” Dewey whispers, a little smile tugging at his lips, his face slowly lighting up. 

Huey glances at Dewey, then looks away again. He’s not sure how he feels about the timid happiness in his brother’s eyes.

Dewey hops onto his good foot, dropping his ice pack on the floor, and limping over to sit beside Huey. He puts his hands on Huey’s shoulders and squeezes. His smile is nervous, joyful, apprehensive, and excited all mixed together. “If it is him, we could meet him.”

Huey jumps back like he’s been burned. “No.”

“But Hugh—“

_”No.”_

_ _Huey’s used to anger washing over him and covering his body. He’s used to rage turning his sight red. It’s easy to get angry. Anger is an easy emotion to deal with. Not like sadness, or hurt, or numbness that stays with you for a long time. Anger holds you captive, but not for long. It flushes out of you after awhile._ _

_ _But this time, Huey feels something else washing over him—a feeling that Huey has almost no experience with. _Fear._ Huey is afraid, so very afraid. ___ _

_ _ _ _Dewey grabs his arms, stopping Huey from moving away from him. “I know what happened last time was bad,” he says gently._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _“Bad is an understatement,” Huey retorts. _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _“I know,” Dewey says, all traces of his smile gone, “It hurt. A lot.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _Huey then realizes that Dewey’s hands on his arms are shaking. He’s scared too. _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _“But Hugh, I want to meet our dad once. Just once,” he says, “And there’s a possibility that we can.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _Huey bites his lip. Why can’t he conjure up the anger he’s so used to feeling? (Is he finally facing the part of him that does want to know who he came from?)_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _“You don’t have to take a chance on that possibility,” Dewey tells him, “but I’m going to go.”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _“Going to what?”_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _Dewey and Huey both jump and scamper to hide the letter under the cushion quickly, when Louie comes into the living room._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _“Nothing!” they squeak. _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _Louie scrutinizes them with a disbelieving frown, as if waiting for them to cave and come clean. _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _They don’t. _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _With a sigh, Louie leaves the room. _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _Huey tries not to feel bad for lying to their brother.  
__________________________________ _ _ _

Dewey writes a letter back to social services later that night. After he's fallen asleep, Huey reads it, then puts it back on Dewey's desk in the same position it was left in. Dewey sends the letter the next day. A hopeful feeling buds in Huey's chest.  
_____________________________________________

Dewey says they should tell Louie. Huey says they shouldn’t. They argue. Huey doesn't want Louie to know, in case they hit a brick wall again and Louie gets hurt. Dewey doesn't want to smash Louie's hopes for the second time either, but it'd be wrong to keep this from him. They never keep secrets from each other.

Truthfully, Huey feels himself start to sweat whenever he sees Louie. He knows Dewey is right; it is wrong to keep such a big secret from their brother. He feels really guilty. But then he thinks of Louie's sensitive heart getting hurt because of them, and they just can't tell him.

Louie knows something's going on. Huey notices that he stares at him when he thinks he can't see him. When they talk, and Huey wipes his sweaty palms on his pants, Louie's eyes crinkle in suspicion. He frowns when Huey and Dewey turn away from him to argue in hushed hisses. It's only a matter of time until he confronts them. Huey doesn't know what he'll do when that happens.

So he and Dewey go to Uncle Donald. Sure, Donald's not the brightest, but he has his moments of wisdom. He's sure to know what they should do. (Of course, that means they have to tell him that they tried finding their father six months ago. It's painful getting the words out. Dewey's voice cracks and he almost cries, so Huey recounts most of the event. Donald sits at the table with his coffee, listening silently and intently).

"What do you two think you should do?" Donald asks them after they've finished explaining. He sips his coffee.

Dewey rubs at his eyes, an embarrassed blush on his cheeks from letting his emotions best him. "I think we should tell him."

"I think we shouldn't tell him," Huey says.

"He deserves to know," Dewey tries to bite at him, but the tears in his voice are still there. He sniffles and hangs his head.

"That doesn't mean he'll want to know," Huey says softly. He can't snap at Dewey when he's crying.

"He might not. He might," says Donald, "There's only one way to find out."

Huey wants to counter, but their uncle's right. And now that he thinks about it, if their roles were reversed, Huey wouldn't want his brothers keeping secrets from him.

"Louie is observant," Donald then says, "He will find out sooner or later. It doesn't matter if you tell him or not."

"Yes it does," says Dewey, "He'll be mad at us if he finds out and we haven't told him."

Huey sighs. He doesn't want Louie to be mad at him. 

Dewey puts his hand on his shoulder. "We have to tell him, Hugh."

Huey's about to reply.

"Too late for that." Louie is standing in the kitchen doorway, his arms crossed. He's holding the letter they threw in the trash. The look on his face is the perfect example of the calm before the storm (and it's a violent storm).

__________________________________________________

There's yelling. Louie yells at them. Louie never yells. Out of all three of them, he has the most patience. He's always the calmest, and the kindest, and likes to get both sides of a story before deciding where his opinion stands in the matter. However, he is apart of the Duck family and has their infamous temper lurking somewhere inside him, even if it rarely comes out. Now is one of those rare times.

Huey is tempted to yell back, feeling his blood begin to boil, all the anger, stress, and nerves from this stupid situation overwhelming him. Why is this such a giant issue anyway? Why does Louie care so much? Why is Dewey so damn curious? All their father has brought them is grief. Grief, tears, and heart wounds, and they can't even remember him. Why does he matter so much? He left them. He obviously didn't love them. He wouldn't have left them if he loved them. Right?

Oh. _Oh._ That's why. Because of that questioning _right?_; that glimmer of hope. (The thing Huey feels when he let himself feel it.)____

_ _ _ _"Look Lou, I'm sorry," Dewey says, playing with a strand of his longish hair. It's a habit of his. _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _Louie stops pacing the living room upon hearing the guilt in Dewey's voice._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"It's just... because of the last time..." Dewey clears his throat, "I wanted to tell you, but I wasn't sure how you'd react. And Huey didn't think you should know."_ _ _ _

_ _ _ _Louie turns to Huey._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"Thanks for throwing me under the bus," Huey mutters, looking at Dewey, who simply shrugs at him. He would've glared if he had more energy, but he feels drained. _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _"Why didn't you think I should know?" Louie asks._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _Huey sighs, slinging his arm over his tired eyes. "Why do you think?" he asks back._ _ _ _

_ _ _ _Louie is quiet for a moment. Huey keeps his arm over his eyes. Then he hears Louie say, "Because you wanted to protect me from getting hurt."_ _ _ _

Huey doesn’t need to tell Louie that he’s right. “I should’ve burned that letter,” Huey sighs. After this, he’s sure he never wants to see—or hear the word—letter ever again. 

“But you didn’t,” Dewey says, “because you didn’t want to.”

Huey’s throat suddenly feels dry and his eyes are wet. “I didn’t,” he admits, his face burning with embarrassment. This is why he chose to be angry at their parents, and not to miss them. 

He hated being sad. He hated crying. He hated it with all his might. 

Louie goes and wraps an arm around Huey’s shoulders. “Thank you. You’re always protecting me.”

Huey chokes on a sob and keeps his eyes hidden. Dammit, why is this happening? Where’s the familiar blood-boiling anger? He hates this, he hates it, he hates it. 

“But we’re a team,” Louie continues, “We protect each other.”

“We face challenges together,” Huey hears Dewey add.

Louie squeezes his shoulder. “We’ll face this together.”

Huey wipes furiously at his eyes, refusing to let the tears fall. “What if it turns out to be him and he hates us?”

Dewey puts his hand on his knee. “We’ll face that together too.”

Huey sniffles, then looks at them.

Louie gives him a smile. “Besides, we just need each other, remember?”

Huey huffs a laugh. “Yeah,” he says.

“And we’ll always have Uncle Donald,” says Dewey, “Let’s be honest here. He’s our real dad. I don’t know why we keep calling him uncle.”

Huey and Louie laugh, and even after Louie finishes, Huey keeps on laughing and laughing. It really isn’t all that funny, but Huey dissolves into a complete laughing fit. Louie and Dewey join in because the sight of their smiling, wheezing brother is hilarious. 

(In the other room, Donald puts a hand over his heart, as their crappy coffee machine gurgles. Warmth floods him and love pulses inside him. He loves his boys more than anything—loves them with his whole heart, soul and being.)  
___________________

Social services send a letter back to them a few days later. As it turned out, the man by the border wasn’t their father. But it’s okay. Somehow, it’s not painful like the last time was. Maybe it’s because Uncle Donald pulls the three of them in a tight hug, just like he used to when they were little. 

Huey doesn’t feel sad or angry. He’s happy. In fact, he feels like the happiest duck in the universe. 

Because he has his brothers and his uncle. Maybe his family isn’t as complete as it could be, but their love for one another is as boundless as the stars. And that’s more than enough for Huey.  
_________________________________

{3 months later}

(It’s Louie’s turn to get the mail on Mondays. There’s bills for Uncle Donald as usual (lucky him), school reports, letters from relatives and friends with names Louie doesn’t recognize, and...

A small envelope with no stamp or writing on it. 

Louie frowns. That’s weird. He opens it up and takes out a dirty, tattered paper, folded over four times. There’s a name written on it. Louie has to hold it to his face and squint to see the words. It takes him a minute to understand the scraggly writing. Once he does understand, he nearly rips the paper when he gasps. 

_Jack Duck_.__

**Author's Note:**

> And it ends in mystery! But do not worry, those of you who care about this new little series. Questions shall be answered in the next work. Oh, and I made up the name Jack Duck. I looked for their dad’s name, but he’s nameless.  
Thanks to those who read! Let me know what you think!


End file.
